Gleanings – Big T Truth in Love
Ephesians 4:1-16
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
Some find license in this passage to inflict pain upon others. “People should know the truth about themselves and I am just the person who loves them enough to tell them even zealously,” some think. It is the often said but rarely meant “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.”
But Paul is speaking here about big T truth, not what one person should know but what all persons should know. Paul is attuned to what Bishop Fitz Allison called the cruelty of heresy (that which denies the truth). It causes us to be tossed to and fro and carried about. We have no direction. Under its tutelage we live aimless lives.
In every age there are those men who are attempting to draw others to themselves. They are cunning and crafty. They tend to tickle our ears with eloquence but fail to deliver much Truth.
And the Truth we should know is that Christ is the head of all and we are to mature into to his full stature. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is the work of the church. And it is that to which we are submitted, to becoming like Christ, loving as he loves. And also true? That we bring nothing to the table! We are acted upon that character might be produce in us. We should resist any other agenda and readily embrace this one.